BPD SWANSONG NEEDS AN ENCORE

Greens Health spokesperson, Tammy Franks MLC said today’s long overdue state government announcement for action on Borderline Personality Disorder was “far too late and still far too little”.

The announcement of $1.2m over 2 years made as the last decree by the outgoing Minister, Leesa Vlahos, was criticised by Ms Franks as: “a bitter disappointment. We are currently failing in our response and supports for those with BPD and their loved ones. This timid swansong on BPD action from the outgoing Minister will need to be followed up with a rousing encore from the incoming one.

“Between 17,000 and 68,000 South Australians are affected by the (BPD) diagnosis and there are gaping chasms in the provision of services to support them. As a result, people are dying. So much so that in past weeks we’ve seen a coronial inquest taking on BPD as a theme.

“Unlike Victoria, we still do not have a stand-alone specialised service and despite a supportive outgoing Minister finding a small sum in her last day on the job, I will not forget that an initial 2012 report struggled for years to see the light of day. After which, a 2016 BPD action and implementation plan sat in an in-tray for ten months.

“Despite these extraordinary delays in actioning those reports and plans, today we find there is still no substantial money on the table to make a stand-alone service happen.

“This kind of comprehensive service works in Victoria and it will work here. It will save money while saving lives. But simply rearranging the ministerial deckchairs now will see more unnecessary deaths and certainly more needlessly damaged lives.

“The new minister is put on notice that the Greens, like the BPD community, want action on this issue and will not be pacified with a pittance when we need a proper plan,” Ms Franks concluded.